TBT Recipe: Hill Country Peach Fuzzies with Amendments

This has been a strange summer. “These are rotten,” Suzen announced to me. I had brought home peaches from the farmers market and they were soft to be sure. But, not close to rotten and very, very sweet. Perfect for this beverage. Or the smoothie of your choice! But, I’d start with this cocktail. If you are lucky enough to live in Texas, then you know about the Hill Country peaches.

When I saw this recipe in Texas Home Cooking by the Jamisons, I knew I would make it. And the next day, I did. Texas Home Cooking from 1993 is venerable and perpetually wonderful. You can find a review right here!

Suzen and I have driven in Texas Hill Country outside Austin and on a warm summer afternoon you can smell the peaches as you coast down the highway. It’s intoxicating. I’ve amended the original recipe a bit here to make it truly intoxicating — substituting peach vodka for plain vodka just to intensify the flavor. And there’s a sweetness boost of simple syrup.

Now, when I began to make this delight, I discovered my peaches were still a tad hard. So after peeling and cutting into chunks, I let the peach pieces sit in a bowl of that simple syrup and peach schnapps. That and 30 seconds in a Vitamix overcame all issues of “not quite ready.”

If you love summer fruit cocktails, put this on your list to do. You will thoroughly happy. Who knows, I may roll this out again for Christmas using frozen peaches, too!

Hill Country Peach Fuzzies with Amendments

Yield:4 cocktails

Ingredients:

2 ripe peaches, medium size or larger, peeled and pitted

3 ounces peach brandy or schnapps

3 ounces simple syrup

6 ounces fresh orange juice

6 ounces peach vodka

8-12 ice cubes

Preparation:

Dice up the peaches and place in a metal bowl. Cover with the peach brandy and simple syrup. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Put the peaches, along with the brandy and syrup, in your blender. Add the orange juice and vodka. Blend until smooth.

Add ice cubes and process. Use enough cubes to reach the consistency you desire for your beverage.

Source: Texas Home Cooking by Bill and Cheryl Jamison [Harvard Common Press, 19903]